Dec. 4, 2010

Box Score

Chattanooga, Tenn. - Three-consecutive 3-pointers out of the halftime locker room helped Western Carolina overcome a dismal first half shooting performance, but the Catamounts ran out of steam down the stretch as Chattanooga claimed its second-straight in Southern Conference play, 67-65, Saturday afternoon at the McKenzie Arena.

The loss was the second-straight for the Catamounts, who drop to 4-6 on the year and 0-2 in SoCon play.

"I thought both teams went at each other with a good level of intensity and a lot of effort. Both teams executed fairly well on both ends of the court," said WCU head coach Larry Hunter during post-game comments with the media. "All night long, I thought we got really good looks. We were just fortunate to be as close as we were (in the first half). We have been playing really good defense and doing a decent job on the boards."

"Our guys are executing, but we didn't take advantage of our opportunities and Chattanooga did a good job in taking the lead back in the second half. When they got the lead, they kept it," added Hunter.

Senior guard Mike Williams led two Catamounts in double-figures with a game-high 21 points while also matching his career-best with six assists. Junior Keaton Cole finished with a career-high 17 points with three assists while freshman Tawaski King finished with nine and a career-high 12 rebounds including five of WCU's 14 offensive boards.

Redshirt freshman Trey Sumler, who made his first career start, added eight points for WCU.

Chattanooga (4-5, 2-0 SoCon) put three players in double figures led by 13 points from Keegan Bell, who scored five from the free throw line. Chris Early tallied a dozen points while Ricky Taylor scored seven of his 11 points from the charity stripe, shooting a perfect 7-for-7. Combined, Taylor scored nine of his 11 in the final 4:53 of the game for the Mocs.

Despite only converting five field goals in the first 20 minutes, the Catamounts defensive effort kept them in it, only trailing by a game-high nine points late in the opening half. WCU forced Chattanooga into 13 first half turnovers, while also converting nine offensive rebounds into 10 points.

A two-handed slam dunk by King and 1-of-2 free throws by Williams gave the Catamounts their largest lead of the day, 30-26, at the 16:04 mark of the second half, capping a 14-to-3 run by WCU. Sumler matched the four-point margin at 34-30 on a jumper at 14:50, setting up a see-saw affair for the remainder of the half.

Tied at 38, the Mocs used 3-pointers from Early and Troy Cage as a part of an 8-0 spurt to pull ahead, 46-38, only to see the Catamounts answer right back, knotting the game at 48 on a pair of Sumler free throws.

However, an old-fashioned three-point play for Taylor handed Chattanooga a lead it would not relinquish just inside of five minutes remaining as the Mocs sealed the win from the free throw line. In the final minute, Chattanooga connected on 9-of-10 free throws to hold off the Catamounts.

All told, the second half saw a combined three ties and six lead changes.

Western Carolina will get its first sizeable break of the season, returning to action next Friday, Dec. 10 as it continues its seven-game road swing in Buies Creek, N.C., at Campbell. Tip-off from the Gore Arena is set for 7:00 pm.

Post-game Notes:

- Saturday's meeting was the earliest between Western Carolina and Chattanooga all-time ... it also concluded a stretch of six games in nine days for the Catamounts;

- Over the past four seasons, Western Carolina and Chattanooga have split the seasonal head-to-head meeting, each winning on its home court ... UTC won for the fourth-straight time over WCU at the McKenzie Arena on Saturday afternoon ... the Catamounts have lost 31 of the 33 all-time series meetings in the "Roundhouse" at UTC;

- Keaton Cole finished with a career-high 17 points against Chattanooga ... Cole's previous career-best was 16 scored against the Mocs last season;

- Mike Williams has scored 20-or-more points now three times this season for the Catamounts - however, WCU is 0-3 in all three of those games to date (24 vs. Gardner-Webb, L 71-65; 20 at Samford, L 63-58);